For their “final offensive” against the Slovak Uprising, the Germans brought in several new formations. Among them stood the most loathsome group of criminals in an organization devoted to racism and murder: the SS Dirlewanger Brigade. Recruited from rapists and other felons by convicted child molester Oskar Dirlewanger, the brigade had been busily raping and murdering civilians in Poland when summoned to fight the Slovaks.

The Germans had numbers and firepower on their side, but were not used to fighting enemies who actually shot back at them. The Slovaks held their ground and inflicted heavy casualties on the poorly trained Germans, who fell back in some disarray. Dirlewanger was undoubtedly one of the most evil men serving an evil regime, but was not a physical coward and fought in the front lines with his men – doing little to improve his unit’s overall coordination. It would take several more tries and many more dead before the Ploska Height fell to the SS men.